91: Chapter 91 Living Better Than You: The General Male Supporting Character 9

For several days in a row, there was no movement from the Prime Ministers Manor, as if the humiliation of the return visit had never happened.

Meng Zhu did not care; to him, Prime Minister Nan Ling was quite easy to deal with.

And so, the days passed in quiet tranquility.

In the blink of an eye, the Lantern Festival arrived.

There are several Lantern Festivals in the Wu Dynasty; this one, occurring in autumn, is usually not for families to spend together, but for lovers or married couples.

This is a plot point in this lifetime, but it is also a scene where the female lead gets to slap faces.

Meng Zhu now views the male and female leads with the feeling of watching children play house; he doesn't really want to bother with them, but the bullet comments are very expectant.

What they are looking forward to is not the female lead slapping faces, but seeing how Meng Zhu handles it.

When the day arrived, the servants in the residence hung horn palace lanterns everywhere early on; under the corridors and eaves, they looked quite beautiful even in the daylight.

Nan Jin woke up a bit later than usual; when she went out, Meng Zhu was practicing martial arts.

Seeing her husband's heroic bearing now, she could still feel herself swooning.

"Awake?"

Meng Zhu's voice carried the heavy breathing from his martial arts practice.

He walked up to her and reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear.

"Since you definitely want to go out for a walk tonight, why not sleep a little longer?"

"Is my husband saying I'm lazy?"

Nan Jin's cheeks flushed slightly, and she rubbed against his chest.

"Is my husband talking about the lantern show tonight? During the Lantern Festival, people go to release lanterns to pray for a smooth and happy life. Will my husband go with me?"

As she spoke to the end, her voice gradually lowered, and she peeked up at Meng Zhu, her eyes full of expectation.

Meng Zhu felt his heart itch at her cute appearance and couldn't help but lower his head to kiss her.

"Of course we'll go. If I don't accompany my wife tonight, who else would I accompany?"

He teased her on purpose, causing Nan Jin to bury her head in his chest, unable to speak.

But as Meng Zhu held her, his eyes were somewhat deep and thoughtful.

After many days of getting along, Nan Jin was not only gentle and virtuous before him, but even to an excessive degree—or rather, somewhat subservient.

This was not right.

Meng Zhu knew the plot well and had some rough guesses, but he still needed to verify them.

An unhealthy marital relationship would sooner or later lead to problems.

[Nan Jin acting like this little pampered wife is really hard to get used to.]

[I still remember the shocking opening, killing two people in a row and then committing suicide.]

[It's normal, though; naturally, it's different once nourished by love.]

[I, on the other hand, feel it's a bit flighty, not very real.]

[Stop talking about useless things; the two of them probably don't know about tonight's face-slapping scene yet.]

[Yeah, in this lifetime, Prince Yu married the person he had been longing for and is finding ways to please her; he had the lanterns specially made, they're both big and gorgeous.]

[We can't send a message, so we can only rely on Meng Zhu and the others to improvise.]

Evening clouds hung low, and the long street was bright with lights.

Ladies were as numerous as clouds, and tourists were like a weaving loom.

Tonight, the capital was immersed in brilliance, and both banks of the river were crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder, exceptionally lively.

Meng Zhu held Nan Jin's hand, easily separating the crowd and protecting her within his own little world.

Nan Jin's gaze was attracted by all kinds of lanterns, leaving her unable to take it all in.

After a long while, she stopped in front of a small stall and carefully selected a plain paper lantern painted with elegant bamboo leaves.

The two found a less crowded spot and were just about to release the lantern when they suddenly heard bursts of exclamations.

"Look over there! It's His Highness Prince Yu!"

"Good heavens! That lantern is huge! It must be over half a person's height!"

"His Highness Prince Yu truly dotes on his Princess; a lantern like that really stands out from the crowd!"

The crowd erupted in exclamations and admiration, and more and more people's gazes were drawn in.

Nan Jin also instinctively looked over and saw Prince Yu Xuanyuan Zhan in high spirits, with Nan Li smiling faintly beside him.

Looking at that lantern again, it was indeed half a person high and exquisitely beautiful.

Meng Zhu naturally saw it too; he looked down at the small and exquisite paper lantern in his hand and feigned confusion.

"Oh, my wife, is there some special significance to the bigger the lantern, the better?"

How could he not know? In reality, he was continuing to test Nan Jin.

Sure enough, her temperament had truly changed.

Although she lowered her eyes, her tone was completely indifferent.

"Husband, don't mind it. What does the size of the lantern matter? It depends on who you release it with; we don't care about these things."

After saying this, she even gave a sweet smile.

[Something's not right; is Nan Jin just avoiding conflict blindly?]

[What's wrong with that? One trick is enough to get by; ignoring the male and female leads like this until the end is fine too.]

[You guys are stupid; this is a serious deviation from the character design, with no warning—it can't just be because they consummated the marriage, right?]

[Indeed, let's keep watching; Meng Zhu's expression is also off, maybe he's discovered something's wrong too.]

Meng Zhu certainly knew something was wrong, but he had intended it to be this way.

He pretended not to see the envy in his wife's eyes.

A smile curled at the corners of his mouth as he leaned into her ear.

"Wife, look, they are all envious of Prince Yu's lantern; your husband is a bit unhappy."

Nan Jin was stunned and turned her head to meet his deep, dark eyes.

"Husband, but that was handmade; where could one buy such a large lantern?"

"I don't care about that; why didn't you tell me beforehand? How about this, let's go and dismantle his lantern."

"Don't..."

Nan Jin's expression showed a momentary panic.

"Why does husband have to care? It's just a lantern, after all."

Meng Zhu stopped talking; he stared at Nan Jin for a long time, making her feel at a loss.

Just as Nan Jin was about to use her topic-shifting technique again, Meng Zhu suddenly spoke up.

"Alright, I'll listen to my wife."

He turned to embrace Nan Jin, his voice gentle and magnetic.

"Then, my wife, do you want to know where these lanterns end up?"

"Hmm?"

Nan Jin was taken aback by his preemptive change of topic, but she was also curious in her heart.

She couldn't help but look up.

"Does husband know?"

Unexpectedly, Meng Zhu let out a soft laugh.

"I don't know either, but I can take you to see."

After speaking, he took the lantern from Nan Jin's hand, held it steadily in his left hand, wrapped his right arm around Nan Jin's waist, and lifted her up abruptly!

His profound internal energy filled his body.

"Ah!"

Nan Jin only had time to let out a short cry of surprise before the two of them flew up.

Before she could react, Meng Zhu tapped his feet again, his figure shooting forward like an arrow off a bowstring.

He actually didn't take the usual path, but instead carried her directly onto the shimmering surface of the river.

Where would ordinary people have ever seen such a thing?

Immediately, some people exclaimed, which also made Prince Yu Xuanyuan Zhan and Nan Li look over.

They saw Meng Zhu walking on the river surface as if it were flat ground, his robes fluttering; every time his toes lightly touched the water, only a small ripple spread out.

Yet it was enough to carry the two of them speeding several yards away.

The cold night wind blew against their faces, lifting Nan Jin's hair; she was so frightened that she instinctively hugged Meng Zhu's neck tightly.

But when she opened her eyes, what she saw were the thousands of lights rapidly receding beneath her feet, as well as the gazes cast from countless people on the shore, mixed with shock, astonishment, and envy.

That feeling was novel and thrilling, something she had never experienced before.

Following closely behind was an unprecedented excitement and joy.

Under the moonlight, the man in black robes holding his delicate wife in a red dress, carrying a single lantern, walked across the waves.

The two looked like a fairy couple, making the grand lantern festival seem tawdry in comparison.

Flying forward all the way, they soon moved far away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

After a long time, Meng Zhu, carrying Nan Jin, landed steadily on a riverbank outside the city.

Nan Jin's cheeks were flushed with excitement and agitation, and her heart was still pounding.

"Husband, where is this?"

Meng Zhu chuckled and pointed to the surface of the river.

"Wife, look."

Nan Jin finally calmed down and, following Meng Zhu's finger, looked over and was stunned on the spot.

She saw that on the river channel not far away, several huge fences had been set up, and dozens of commoners were on boats, holding long bamboo poles and nets.

Those lanterns carrying the beautiful wishes of countless people were being fished out of the water one by one by them and piled up on the bank.

So, this river full of romance had never truly drifted into the distance.